Setting, part 2
I've been thinking about things alien. In particular, where are they located and how do they relate to us humans. Having recently re-watched District 9 and some other films, I've decided to integrate some aspects of them into the setting.
Aliens will have already made contact with mankind, for example the 'Prawns' in District 9 are said to have arrived in 1982, while the films story takes place in 2010. The film ends with the aliens being relocated to District 10, a new refugee camp, far from Johannesburg and the Prawns' ship leaving earth, supposedly to return in three years.
There are a couple of descriptions of this race in different rule sets. In Tomorrow's War they are called the Marshborn and they are refugees on the run from the Darghaur, there ships and equipment are very old (but very advanced) and constantly in need of repair. The Marshborn are consummate jury-riggers, able to keep their ships and equipment going by scavenging parts and power from any likely source.
The USEME rules system calls them the Draal and describes them as being divided into 26 competing clans. The species is further described as cold blooded and ruthless.
Online there is the District 9 wiki and a few other fan based wikis relating to the subject. The word Poleepkwa is bandied about as a possible name for the species, because it was used by an individual in the 'Alive in Joburg' short film to refer to them.
I'm going to assume that 'Poleepkwa' translates into 'Marshborn' and that much of the information in Tomorrow's War is accurate for our version of the Poleepkwa/Marshborn.
The wiki states that District 10 is some 200km away from Johannesburg. I do not know the lay of the land in South Africa but looking at some maps, I'd be inclined to place District 10 somewhere away from populated areas in SA. The 200km distance limits which directions we could go, so I'd say somewhere along the Botswana border, West North-West of Gaborone, in the region between the independent territories of Bophuthatswana and Lebowa. If you draw a line through Johannesburg and the midpoint between Sun City and Pretoria, where that line intersects the Limpopo River, would be a pretty close estimate of the position of District 10. This would place it in the Municipiality of Lephalale in the district of Waterberg, Limpopo Province, South Africa, opposite Kgatleng District in Botswana on the other side of the river.
I will also assume that Christopher Johnson has yet to return with the ship and help from the homeworld (which I am calling 'Many Reeds' care of "By Dagger or Talon")
The Poleepkwa were moved to District 10, which began life as a tented encampment capable of housing 2.5 million Poleepkwa.The Poleepkwa have a very short gestation period and while MNU has done it's very best to curb the population growth, they have failed miserably and District 10 now rivals some major cities in size and a few small countries in population. The population is now estimated to be over 5 million, although exact numbers are unknown and may be wildly inaccurate.
MNU's mercenary budget is off the charts as it struggles to maintain some sort of control zone around 'Prawn City'. However, having expanded, 'Prawn City' now abuts the Limpopo River bank giving them access to that waterway and Botswana. MNU has no mandate in Botswana and cannot therefore station forces there to isolate the Marshborn. River patrols and ground patrols are conducted in an effort to keep the Poleepkwa isolated from the rest of the world.
The South African government has set aside the region for the use of the Poleepkwa, however it has so far refused to recognise 'Prawn City' as an independent land and regularly sends troops to support the MNU mercenaries. Nations friendly to South Africa also send troops on exchange to get some combat experience fighting aliens.
There has been an increase in armed resistance to human military patrols in the control zones. Most of these incidents have involved members of Pro Forma an extremist Marshborn group variously labelled terrorists or guerrillas depending on who you speak to. Recently MNU mercenaries have encountered some Marshborn forces not affiliated with Pro Forma. These forces are better trained, better organised, and better equipped than the 'warriors' of Pro Forma. MNU believes that these new forces are the beginnings of a Prawn Army, being supplied by a new arms industry, hidden somewhere within the city. The fact that some of these forces have included a walker or two certainly lends credence to the rumours of a secret facility somewhere in Prawn City and backs up MNU's assertion that the Prawns are building an army.
How large the Poleepkwa population really is, is unknown, as is the readiness of their 'fledgling' army. Given their expansionist and aggressive nature, if their population greatly exceeds estimates, MNU could be sitting on a powder keg. There have been suggestions of nuking the prawns, but they are always quickly vetoed, because the fallout, both radioactive and public relations, would be horrendous.
It is likely that should the prawns try to break out, they will be met with conventional forces and should the Poleepkwa ship return, it will be met with all available air and anti-air assets. How effective these forces are at fighting the aliens remains to be seen, but it is hoped that they will give a good account of themselves.
By the way, today's conventional forces have taken advantage of technological improvements either independently developed or inspired by Marshborn technology. Mankind cannot use Poleepkwa technology as it is heavily reliant on their DNA to function, but he can theorise and work around the DNA problem to design human tech approaching the alien tech in performance. (Aliens overall TL 3, Human overall TL 2 (with rare TL 3)).
Other species will be discussed in future articles
Aliens will have already made contact with mankind, for example the 'Prawns' in District 9 are said to have arrived in 1982, while the films story takes place in 2010. The film ends with the aliens being relocated to District 10, a new refugee camp, far from Johannesburg and the Prawns' ship leaving earth, supposedly to return in three years.
There are a couple of descriptions of this race in different rule sets. In Tomorrow's War they are called the Marshborn and they are refugees on the run from the Darghaur, there ships and equipment are very old (but very advanced) and constantly in need of repair. The Marshborn are consummate jury-riggers, able to keep their ships and equipment going by scavenging parts and power from any likely source.
The USEME rules system calls them the Draal and describes them as being divided into 26 competing clans. The species is further described as cold blooded and ruthless.
Online there is the District 9 wiki and a few other fan based wikis relating to the subject. The word Poleepkwa is bandied about as a possible name for the species, because it was used by an individual in the 'Alive in Joburg' short film to refer to them.
I'm going to assume that 'Poleepkwa' translates into 'Marshborn' and that much of the information in Tomorrow's War is accurate for our version of the Poleepkwa/Marshborn.
The wiki states that District 10 is some 200km away from Johannesburg. I do not know the lay of the land in South Africa but looking at some maps, I'd be inclined to place District 10 somewhere away from populated areas in SA. The 200km distance limits which directions we could go, so I'd say somewhere along the Botswana border, West North-West of Gaborone, in the region between the independent territories of Bophuthatswana and Lebowa. If you draw a line through Johannesburg and the midpoint between Sun City and Pretoria, where that line intersects the Limpopo River, would be a pretty close estimate of the position of District 10. This would place it in the Municipiality of Lephalale in the district of Waterberg, Limpopo Province, South Africa, opposite Kgatleng District in Botswana on the other side of the river.
I will also assume that Christopher Johnson has yet to return with the ship and help from the homeworld (which I am calling 'Many Reeds' care of "By Dagger or Talon")
The Poleepkwa were moved to District 10, which began life as a tented encampment capable of housing 2.5 million Poleepkwa.The Poleepkwa have a very short gestation period and while MNU has done it's very best to curb the population growth, they have failed miserably and District 10 now rivals some major cities in size and a few small countries in population. The population is now estimated to be over 5 million, although exact numbers are unknown and may be wildly inaccurate.
MNU's mercenary budget is off the charts as it struggles to maintain some sort of control zone around 'Prawn City'. However, having expanded, 'Prawn City' now abuts the Limpopo River bank giving them access to that waterway and Botswana. MNU has no mandate in Botswana and cannot therefore station forces there to isolate the Marshborn. River patrols and ground patrols are conducted in an effort to keep the Poleepkwa isolated from the rest of the world.
The South African government has set aside the region for the use of the Poleepkwa, however it has so far refused to recognise 'Prawn City' as an independent land and regularly sends troops to support the MNU mercenaries. Nations friendly to South Africa also send troops on exchange to get some combat experience fighting aliens.
There has been an increase in armed resistance to human military patrols in the control zones. Most of these incidents have involved members of Pro Forma an extremist Marshborn group variously labelled terrorists or guerrillas depending on who you speak to. Recently MNU mercenaries have encountered some Marshborn forces not affiliated with Pro Forma. These forces are better trained, better organised, and better equipped than the 'warriors' of Pro Forma. MNU believes that these new forces are the beginnings of a Prawn Army, being supplied by a new arms industry, hidden somewhere within the city. The fact that some of these forces have included a walker or two certainly lends credence to the rumours of a secret facility somewhere in Prawn City and backs up MNU's assertion that the Prawns are building an army.
How large the Poleepkwa population really is, is unknown, as is the readiness of their 'fledgling' army. Given their expansionist and aggressive nature, if their population greatly exceeds estimates, MNU could be sitting on a powder keg. There have been suggestions of nuking the prawns, but they are always quickly vetoed, because the fallout, both radioactive and public relations, would be horrendous.
It is likely that should the prawns try to break out, they will be met with conventional forces and should the Poleepkwa ship return, it will be met with all available air and anti-air assets. How effective these forces are at fighting the aliens remains to be seen, but it is hoped that they will give a good account of themselves.
By the way, today's conventional forces have taken advantage of technological improvements either independently developed or inspired by Marshborn technology. Mankind cannot use Poleepkwa technology as it is heavily reliant on their DNA to function, but he can theorise and work around the DNA problem to design human tech approaching the alien tech in performance. (Aliens overall TL 3, Human overall TL 2 (with rare TL 3)).
Other species will be discussed in future articles
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